Fighting for Justice: Are Progressive Prosecutors Capable of Ending Mass Incarceration?

Mass incarceration is arguably one of the most critical problems of the American judicial system. Legal scholars and practitioners alike have put forth several proposals that would reform the currently broken criminal justice system, which puts in jail millions of Americans. Among all these voices, progressive prosecutors have distinguished themselves through their radical and innovative agenda. Wielding their vast discretionary power as a tool to reduce mass incarceration, these prosecutors rely on tactics such as refusing to prosecute low-level offenses. Despite the noticeable successes of the progressive prosecutor movement, I will argue in this article that prosecutors cannot by themselves fundamentally change the criminal justice system. Electoral volatility and the classic principal-agent dilemma are two of the reasons why I suggest prosecutors should in fact relinquish some of their power.